Tony Parker leads way as Spurs smack Mavs to move on

SAN ANTONIO -- Faced with the possibility of having a second straight season end with a Game 7 loss, the San Antonio Spurs played with emotion and let Tony Parker have some fun.

Parker scored 32 points and San Antonio led by as many as 31 on its way to a 119-96 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, closing out a stressful first-round series Sunday in seven games.

The finale featured Tim Duncan diving into Dallas' bench to save a ball and the Spurs' reserves continually on their feet to celebrate baskets. But no one had as much fun or hit the floor more than Parker.

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The Spurs got off to a quick start as they had done at home all series, but the Mavericks were unable to respond as they did in winning Game 2 on the road.

Leonard's 16-foot jumper gave San Antonio an 18-7 lead 6 minutes into the game and the lead swelled to 29 with 2 minutes remaining in the first half.

"We gave ourselves a chance but today we got hit by a tidal wave early," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "They had their best game today and we just weren't able to do quite enough to stay in it early.

"It's hard when you get hit with an onslaught early the way the guys did."

"On the court what confounded us was that they've got shooters all the way around," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "Dirk Nowitzki gets a crowd, if you double him you, you leave a lot of other open shooters. So we played him pretty much one-on-one, so we could stay at home a little bit better. That and the ability to shoot it; spread the floor, run the sets that Rick does and the speed of Harris and Ellis was tough for us to handle."

Driven To Success

The Spurs scored 33 points on drives in Game 7, their second-most this series. When San Antonio got into lane against the Mavs in the series, it translated to wins. Here's a look:

On Drives

Wins

Losses

PPG

30.3

9.7

FG pct

61.3 %

36.1 %

Drives PG

24.5

13.3

-- ESPN Stats & Information

Dallas also played a physical series.

There were two technical fouls and two flagrant fouls in Game 7 and two more flagrants reversed upon review.

Parker was assessed a technical with 31.6 seconds left in the first quarter after making a layup on and jawing with former teammate Blair as the two ran down the court. The two had been talking to each other all series and Parker was clearly frustrated at times with the hard fouls committed by Blair on his drives earlier in the series.

But Parker said it was all in good fun.

"I was just laughing with DeJuan," Parker said of the technical. "That's why it was so funny to get a technical for that, because I was not even cursing at him. DeJuan played four years (for the Spurs). He lived for a year at my house. I love DeJuan."

Blair was later assessed a flagrant foul for elbowing Ginobili in the face on a drive. After the foul, Blair stared down Popovich, who was screaming at officials over the severity of the foul.

The flagrant foul energized the Spurs, who went on a 14-2 run to take a 51-27 lead with 8 minutes remaining in the first half.

"Everybody was active and kind of focused," Duncan said. "We had very little mistakes."

San Antonio never led by less than 14 points in the second half.

Game notes

The Spurs were 7-0 in games decided by three points or less during the regular season but were 0-2 against Dallas in such games in their first-round series. ... Sunday's game between Dallas and San Antonio was the 50th postseason game this season. It was also the fifth Game 7 of the first round. "I think it's great for basketball and for the fans," Popovich said. "It drives all the coaches crazy. (But) for the game and everybody, it's been a wonderful thing." ... Blair was booed heavily each time he entered the game or committed a foul.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

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MVP: Tony Parker. San Antonio's point guard unloaded his best performance of the playoffs and perfectly characterized the Spurs' first-half success as he attacked relentlessly. San Antonio built a 22-point lead at halftime, and Parker finished the afternoon with a game-high 32 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds.

X factor: Danny Green showed up to play for the Spurs, something that could be debated about his first five games of the series. Green scored 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting in Game 7 and helped harass Monta Ellis into shooting 3-for-11 from the floor.

Defining moment: With the Spurs up by eight points as the first quarter wound down, Parker zigged and zagged by DeJuan Blair for a layup. On his way up the court, Parker got in Blair's face and drew a technical foul. It was all in fun, Parker said after the game, but the tone had been set for the Spurs.

Research Notes

The Spurs scored 33 points on drives Sunday, their second-most in a game this series. Tony Parker led the way with 17 such points, his series-best. The Spurs more than tripled in points off drives in the four wins.

Spurs by Game Result, 2014 Playoffs

Four Factors Series Analysis

DAL

SAS

eFG%

50.0%

54.2%

TO%

12%

14%

Off Reb%

26%

23%

FT Rate

22%

33%

-------

Possessions

639

639

Off Rtg

110.8

113.0

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If the Spurs lose Game 7 today against Dallas, they will be just the 5th team since modern playoff formatting began in 1983-84 to lose in the first round of the playoffs after winning 60 or more games in the regular season...
Who was the last team to fall in the first round after such a great regular season? These same San Antonio Spurs in 2010-11 to the Memphis Grizzlies...